You remind me of two pieces of advise. The sergeant that led my class when I went to sergeant school walked in and said "if you learn nothing else from this course... Blind. Overbearing. Confidence. Even if you are wrong, doing everything with confidence will keep everyone from questioning your leadership, and will only question specific incorrect details.". Second advice is from my father: "having a plan is important, but the most important thing is that it looks like you had a plan after everything is settled. "
Sometimes you can use the truth as the bluff. I’ve done some stage acting, and during a particular play I was the narrator. I opened the show with a 5 minute monologue, and one night, half way through my mind went blank. I forgot what line came next, and being alone on the stage there was no actor who could improvise a way to get the next line out so the scene could continue. So I told the audience the truth. I said, “I have no idea what my next line is. But not to worry, just off stage is my incredible stage manager, and she’ll tell me what’s next.” And she did, and it worked, it even got a big laugh. After the show I was asked by my fellow actors what inspired me to improvise forgetting my lines. As though I had done it on purpose for a laugh. Sometimes the truth will not only set you free, but it can also serve to make a scene all the better. It won’t work every time, but when it does it’s *chef’s kiss*.
Having a good poker face is a great DM skill, even if you HAVEN'T made a mistake. Recently my party was pulling a heist on a cult where (from their experience) all the members are blind and get around using blindsight. Eventually in the cult's main base they found a war map with color coding for different factions. One player joked "why would they need color coding if they're all blind?" and everyone laughed...except me. Eventually a player realized I wasn't chuckling with the embarrassment of a DM who had written a plot hole, I was just watching my players absorb information and seeing what they would do with it. And THAT got the player thinking, "wait, maybe this isn't a plot hole at all," started thinking about the info more seriously, and (correctly) theorized that the leadership of the cult wasn't blind at all, despite all of the rumors they had heard up until now. TLDR: Even AFTER your players think they've spotted a mistake, a good poker face can make them second-guess themselves, whether you really did make a mistake or not.
Completely agreed! And sometimes it can your players giving you new better ideas. My players tried reading a book in their possession and all rolled less then ten and got nothing from it. But since they had it in their possession, I allowed them to try and reread it another night, it just costing them time. When they failed the second night, one of the players joked that since my poker face was so neutral that "there is something off with this book... it must be written in code or something" and I just decided that... yes. That makes narrative sense. Why else would they fail so much? But I wouldn't have been able to pull it off if I hadn't been so neutral when she suggested it! TL;DR poker face allow you to steal your players good ideas where it makes sense.
The best way to know whether to hide your mistakes/improv moments or not is to pay attention to your players. My best advise that I give people when running a game is to watch and listen. Your players will tell you everything you need to know and remind you of things when they have characters moments. It can also help tailor some things to certain players. Like my cousin enjoys lots of improv to a point where she won't have everything set in stone for the character. It was nice creating a noble elven family that had to overcome their issues. It was amazing having the moment the eldest explained how jealous he was since her PC was the youngest and had so much more freedom. It was hilarious when her PC and their mom bounded over not wanting to spend so much time talking to people they don't like and why a fainting couch is handy. The best moment was when she was playing her pony centaur Celeb and I had an NPC come up say "Hey, Celly" and without skipping a beat, she responded with "Hey, Alley!" Just two dudes that have pet names for each other. Everyone was amazed and thought we planned it all out but was even more impressed when they found out that it was all off the cuff. I've had other players that like things more thought out and concrete which is fine. Whatever kind of backstory you want is fine. You get hints to what kinds of arcs they want to explore by listening and they'll think you're a mindreader when things fall into place. The key is paying attention.
Came for the Critical Role Demystified series - stayed for the EXCELLENT DMing discussions. Congrats, Mike - Very happy for your success and the successes yet to come!
In one of my adventures there is a city in which the Mafia and the mayor are cooperating and I tried to tell my players by them finding the records of infractions (They searched for it specifically to maybe get to know more about the mafia as they are part of the militia which is far more active than the mayor) and in there, there are no records of anything mafia related, even of the obviously dubious stuff. But the conclusion my players drew from it was that the records have already been tempered with by someone else. So Ill probably make whatever they come up with the right answer :D
"Hey, guys, I didn't realize DnD had stats for giant ants, so I used Ankhegs instead... So instead of finding this mine overrun by ants, it's overrun by acid spitting monstrosities. Sorry?"
Brilliant video as usual, and I am so happy that you keep picking up speed ! Wishing you 10 times more, your content is always great, insightful, and EXTREMELY well presented and thought-out.
I subscribed a few weeks ago and love your advice! I think giving away a dragonlance bundle to let more new DMs (I'm definitely one of those) experience new worls that have eben around for awhile would be a great item for a give away :). Absolutely love the advice hear, obvious when said out loud but sometimes we need it
Mike, your videos are super helpful and inspirational as a GM and as a DnD/TTRPG Content Creator. The biggest tip about confidence is probably the one that I hold closest to my heart. Because confidence (especially on online games) can make a big deal. Cause that confidence can and will rub off to your players! At least that is what works for me.
I so love your videos! I took my first baby steps DMing for the group I'm playing with so in the beginning there was a lot of peeking behind the curtain for my players bc I had no idea wtf I was doing, so they helped me with rules, lore etc. But now we are over 40 sessions in and your videos have helped me to reevaluate what I can do to become a better DM and let my players be only players and not have to jump in with answers (except with their own character abilities). So anyway, thank you!!!
I love the references to A Few Good Men. I have always enjoyed that movie, and when you used multiple clips from the movie, I was so happy. I knew I liked your style. Keep up the great work.
My brother, who is also a DM, is one of the players in my first campaign and he has been invaluable when I need to advice or to ask if I'm the problem in a situation. He's kind of like our groups Ben Kenobi.
Great video, Mike. I am on the cusp of making the jump from player to DM, so really appreciating all the advice and looking forward to more videos on the topic of running games. Thanks
In my first game I made few mistakes and tried to correct them ongoing trying to avoid the players know about them I think it went well and helped me to get better prepared for future games.
Did you order the Code Red? DID YOU ORDER THE CODE RED?!? Thanks so much to WorldAnvil for sponsoring this video! Visit www.worldanvil.com/supergeekmike and use the promo code SUPERGEEK to get 40% off any annual membership! www.worldanvil.com/supergeekmike
Wow! Two f-bombs in one video (granted, one was in a movie clip)! "A Few Good Men" is a damn good movie. Now, to the topic of the video: I think if you make it your default mode to admit your mistakes, the occasional cover-up is more likely to succeed. Obviously, don't cover it up if it would significantly impact a player's fun.
My first 5e game I ran-- after 20 years or so of not playing--I completely forgot to do initiative. Sometimes they went first, sometimes I did. The second session I spoke up about it, and corrected.
I've only played ...maybe 7 hours of D&D total? But I decided to introduce my daughter (10) and run her through a couple encounters from the Essentials Kit. She's now in love, she's built a half-dozen characters on Hero Forge that she wants to roll up with me, and I overheard her yesterday talking to a friend about maybe getting some other girls together and having me run a one-shot with them. All that to say, I will be referring back to this video as much if not more than I will refer to the DMG and PHP. Thank you.
I probably as a DM have one of the worst poker faces or voices when we had to swap to discord. Straight up had a scene where a player was talking to an NPC about an idea he had and I went “WAIT YOU CAN DO THAT?!” And they lost their shit. One person when the laughing died down went “that was both the NPC and the Dm in real life shocked at this idea.” I can’t remember the exact situation one player was playing a ranger subclass I wasn’t super familiar with and caught off guard he had a specific spell. (I try to avoid learning what subclasses do so I don’t subconsciously design encounters that hard counter them.)
I have a garbage poker face but I make up for it by just randomly making expressions that mimic my poker face so nobody else knows which are the real ones.
Great advice. Open communication is such a good first step. You'll see how many "issues" players don't see or wasn't as big of a deal as you thought. We are our own worst critics
Could you cover good ways to get the party together. about to start my campaign with good friends and im terrified they're gonna go in different directions.
I always have my player’s characters have pre-existing connections and start the campaign in the same area. It can be fun to do the “group of strangers thrown together” but it takes more effort on the players part and on your part. Hope it went well!!
Will admit I was a little distracted by that Venom: Lethal Protector cover in the background, looked like a mini-Venom was about to bite your neck. Good video, though - I prefer a DM that is relatively open about mistakes, but it is important to at least seem confident about a decision (to avoid player squabbles overtaking the session). Edit: Shouldn't have posted yet. I agree you should definitely not "wind back the clock" to fix a mistake, just roll with and move on.
Somewhere I heard some advice (maybe from you?) to find something in your first session to apologize for that you got wrong. Ironically, I feel like that is the other side of the same coin. I apologized for that time I started thinking 5' reach let them attack an EXTRA 5' away. (They all got extra xp for my screw up.) Now because I know I CAN admit my mistakes if I have to, I feel like I also have the freedom not to have to. I rarely mention it anymore if I screw something up. So sorry to hear about your computer! Thanks for the excellent content you put out consistently!
I severely doubt that Rey Palpatine was a retcon. It's far more likely that Rian Jonson simply didn't like the idea and went forward with his own script plan, and then Rise of Skywalker had to try and fix the continuity mistakes he created by doing that.
From all accounts regarding how Rian approached Last Jedi, and regarding how Rise of Skywalker happened, it seems like the reverse happened. Palpatine wasn’t part of the final film until, by all accounts, VERY late in the process. Rian had to make specific requests regarding the end of Force Awakens because otherwise the film wouldn’t make sense and he wouldn’t have anything to work with for his sequel. (“If Luke is levitating rocks when Rey finds him, then he’s attuned to the Force, so why didn’t he come and save Han? Please take away the levitating rocks, JJ.”) Again, you’re still free to dislike the film, that’s fine, but it seems pretty clear to me that JJ actually wasn’t setting anything up. In fact, I personally believe he wasn’t even TRYING to set up a mystery, but the whole tone of that first sequel film makes mysteries out of everything. And then the internet spent two years obsessing about Rey’s parentage, and then those people were unhappy with the answer to the question they’d made themselves obsessed about when Rian closed the door on it. And the Rise of Skywalker tried to pacify those fans with lazy, poorly-considered and poorly-executed fan service, which is pretty much the M.O. of that entire movie.
OK, way to keep on theme with the clips, but you could've kept with Sorkin and slipped in Sam Seaborn saying "This is like Dungeons and Dragons camp all over again."
The clips are from “A Few Good Men,” a movie you should watch right now if you haven’t, it’s so good 😁 The Lady Gaga, Return of the Jedi and Batman Begins references were 50% jokes
Congratulations on the success of the channel my friend. Let me help the TH-cam algorithm by commenting to tell you that The Last Jedi was, in fact, a terrible movie.
I appreciate it! Obviously I don’t personally agree but I DO think it’s uneven and messy, so I certainly won’t go as far as others who would say it’s the best movie ever. (Also, it’s been 5 years, so even if I did want to argue it over, I doubt I’m gonna change anyone’s minds at this point lol)
You remind me of two pieces of advise. The sergeant that led my class when I went to sergeant school walked in and said "if you learn nothing else from this course... Blind. Overbearing. Confidence. Even if you are wrong, doing everything with confidence will keep everyone from questioning your leadership, and will only question specific incorrect details.". Second advice is from my father: "having a plan is important, but the most important thing is that it looks like you had a plan after everything is settled. "
Sometimes you can use the truth as the bluff.
I’ve done some stage acting, and during a particular play I was the narrator. I opened the show with a 5 minute monologue, and one night, half way through my mind went blank. I forgot what line came next, and being alone on the stage there was no actor who could improvise a way to get the next line out so the scene could continue.
So I told the audience the truth. I said, “I have no idea what my next line is. But not to worry, just off stage is my incredible stage manager, and she’ll tell me what’s next.” And she did, and it worked, it even got a big laugh.
After the show I was asked by my fellow actors what inspired me to improvise forgetting my lines. As though I had done it on purpose for a laugh.
Sometimes the truth will not only set you free, but it can also serve to make a scene all the better. It won’t work every time, but when it does it’s *chef’s kiss*.
Having a good poker face is a great DM skill, even if you HAVEN'T made a mistake.
Recently my party was pulling a heist on a cult where (from their experience) all the members are blind and get around using blindsight. Eventually in the cult's main base they found a war map with color coding for different factions. One player joked "why would they need color coding if they're all blind?" and everyone laughed...except me. Eventually a player realized I wasn't chuckling with the embarrassment of a DM who had written a plot hole, I was just watching my players absorb information and seeing what they would do with it. And THAT got the player thinking, "wait, maybe this isn't a plot hole at all," started thinking about the info more seriously, and (correctly) theorized that the leadership of the cult wasn't blind at all, despite all of the rumors they had heard up until now.
TLDR: Even AFTER your players think they've spotted a mistake, a good poker face can make them second-guess themselves, whether you really did make a mistake or not.
Completely agreed! And sometimes it can your players giving you new better ideas. My players tried reading a book in their possession and all rolled less then ten and got nothing from it. But since they had it in their possession, I allowed them to try and reread it another night, it just costing them time. When they failed the second night, one of the players joked that since my poker face was so neutral that "there is something off with this book... it must be written in code or something" and I just decided that... yes. That makes narrative sense. Why else would they fail so much? But I wouldn't have been able to pull it off if I hadn't been so neutral when she suggested it! TL;DR poker face allow you to steal your players good ideas where it makes sense.
Thanks for being so good and making me feel so cool and clever for being an early adopter of your videos, Mike! Long may you reign!
Thank you!!
The best way to know whether to hide your mistakes/improv moments or not is to pay attention to your players. My best advise that I give people when running a game is to watch and listen. Your players will tell you everything you need to know and remind you of things when they have characters moments. It can also help tailor some things to certain players. Like my cousin enjoys lots of improv to a point where she won't have everything set in stone for the character. It was nice creating a noble elven family that had to overcome their issues. It was amazing having the moment the eldest explained how jealous he was since her PC was the youngest and had so much more freedom. It was hilarious when her PC and their mom bounded over not wanting to spend so much time talking to people they don't like and why a fainting couch is handy. The best moment was when she was playing her pony centaur Celeb and I had an NPC come up say "Hey, Celly" and without skipping a beat, she responded with "Hey, Alley!" Just two dudes that have pet names for each other. Everyone was amazed and thought we planned it all out but was even more impressed when they found out that it was all off the cuff. I've had other players that like things more thought out and concrete which is fine. Whatever kind of backstory you want is fine. You get hints to what kinds of arcs they want to explore by listening and they'll think you're a mindreader when things fall into place. The key is paying attention.
Came for the Critical Role Demystified series - stayed for the EXCELLENT DMing discussions. Congrats, Mike - Very happy for your success and the successes yet to come!
Thank you!!
In one of my adventures there is a city in which the Mafia and the mayor are cooperating and I tried to tell my players by them finding the records of infractions (They searched for it specifically to maybe get to know more about the mafia as they are part of the militia which is far more active than the mayor) and in there, there are no records of anything mafia related, even of the obviously dubious stuff. But the conclusion my players drew from it was that the records have already been tempered with by someone else. So Ill probably make whatever they come up with the right answer :D
Congrats on the explosion of viewers. You deserve it, really been enjoying your videos.
Thank you!!
Oh man, I'm really excited for the livestream! My favorite youtube content is DM live Q & As!
"Hey, guys, I didn't realize DnD had stats for giant ants, so I used Ankhegs instead... So instead of finding this mine overrun by ants, it's overrun by acid spitting monstrosities. Sorry?"
😂😂😂
Brilliant video as usual, and I am so happy that you keep picking up speed ! Wishing you 10 times more, your content is always great, insightful, and EXTREMELY well presented and thought-out.
Thank you!
I subscribed a few weeks ago and love your advice! I think giving away a dragonlance bundle to let more new DMs (I'm definitely one of those) experience new worls that have eben around for awhile would be a great item for a give away :). Absolutely love the advice hear, obvious when said out loud but sometimes we need it
yooo glad to hear you’re channel’s popping off! cheers mate!
Thank you!
Mike, your videos are super helpful and inspirational as a GM and as a DnD/TTRPG Content Creator. The biggest tip about confidence is probably the one that I hold closest to my heart. Because confidence (especially on online games) can make a big deal. Cause that confidence can and will rub off to your players! At least that is what works for me.
Thank you! And that’s a really good point about confidence! :)
I so love your videos! I took my first baby steps DMing for the group I'm playing with so in the beginning there was a lot of peeking behind the curtain for my players bc I had no idea wtf I was doing, so they helped me with rules, lore etc. But now we are over 40 sessions in and your videos have helped me to reevaluate what I can do to become a better DM and let my players be only players and not have to jump in with answers (except with their own character abilities). So anyway, thank you!!!
I’m so glad, thank you!!
This is a good channel and I am so happy that everyone is realizing that. Also, I like Mike.
Thank you!
Oh boy, getting close to 20k? 23k now, Mike, congrats ♡ you deserve it
Thank you so much!!
I love the references to A Few Good Men. I have always enjoyed that movie, and when you used multiple clips from the movie, I was so happy. I knew I liked your style. Keep up the great work.
Thank you!
My brother, who is also a DM, is one of the players in my first campaign and he has been invaluable when I need to advice or to ask if I'm the problem in a situation. He's kind of like our groups Ben Kenobi.
That’s always good to have :)
Great video, Mike. I am on the cusp of making the jump from player to DM, so really appreciating all the advice and looking forward to more videos on the topic of running games. Thanks
In my first game I made few mistakes and tried to correct them ongoing trying to avoid the players know about them I think it went well and helped me to get better prepared for future games.
Did you order the Code Red? DID YOU ORDER THE CODE RED?!?
Thanks so much to WorldAnvil for sponsoring this video! Visit www.worldanvil.com/supergeekmike and use the promo code SUPERGEEK to get 40% off any annual membership!
www.worldanvil.com/supergeekmike
Forget it Marge... It's Chinatown!!
You're [expletive deleted] right I did!
Wow! Two f-bombs in one video (granted, one was in a movie clip)!
"A Few Good Men" is a damn good movie.
Now, to the topic of the video: I think if you make it your default mode to admit your mistakes, the occasional cover-up is more likely to succeed. Obviously, don't cover it up if it would significantly impact a player's fun.
My first 5e game I ran-- after 20 years or so of not playing--I completely forgot to do initiative. Sometimes they went first, sometimes I did. The second session I spoke up about it, and corrected.
I've only played ...maybe 7 hours of D&D total? But I decided to introduce my daughter (10) and run her through a couple encounters from the Essentials Kit. She's now in love, she's built a half-dozen characters on Hero Forge that she wants to roll up with me, and I overheard her yesterday talking to a friend about maybe getting some other girls together and having me run a one-shot with them.
All that to say, I will be referring back to this video as much if not more than I will refer to the DMG and PHP. Thank you.
That’s so awesome! Always glad to see the next generation getting the D&D bug early 😁
I probably as a DM have one of the worst poker faces or voices when we had to swap to discord. Straight up had a scene where a player was talking to an NPC about an idea he had and I went “WAIT YOU CAN DO THAT?!” And they lost their shit. One person when the laughing died down went “that was both the NPC and the Dm in real life shocked at this idea.” I can’t remember the exact situation one player was playing a ranger subclass I wasn’t super familiar with and caught off guard he had a specific spell. (I try to avoid learning what subclasses do so I don’t subconsciously design encounters that hard counter them.)
I have a garbage poker face but I make up for it by just randomly making expressions that mimic my poker face so nobody else knows which are the real ones.
Great advice. Open communication is such a good first step. You'll see how many "issues" players don't see or wasn't as big of a deal as you thought.
We are our own worst critics
Sent after hearing the first point. Ignore that we said the same thing hahahah.
Could you cover good ways to get the party together. about to start my campaign with good friends and im terrified they're gonna go in different directions.
I always have my player’s characters have pre-existing connections and start the campaign in the same area. It can be fun to do the “group of strangers thrown together” but it takes more effort on the players part and on your part. Hope it went well!!
I love your stuff
Thank you!
I just grin the entire time through the game. Thats kinda my Pokerface, I am just happy to play.
Will admit I was a little distracted by that Venom: Lethal Protector cover in the background, looked like a mini-Venom was about to bite your neck. Good video, though - I prefer a DM that is relatively open about mistakes, but it is important to at least seem confident about a decision (to avoid player squabbles overtaking the session).
Edit: Shouldn't have posted yet. I agree you should definitely not "wind back the clock" to fix a mistake, just roll with and move on.
Somewhere I heard some advice (maybe from you?) to find something in your first session to apologize for that you got wrong. Ironically, I feel like that is the other side of the same coin. I apologized for that time I started thinking 5' reach let them attack an EXTRA 5' away. (They all got extra xp for my screw up.) Now because I know I CAN admit my mistakes if I have to, I feel like I also have the freedom not to have to. I rarely mention it anymore if I screw something up.
So sorry to hear about your computer! Thanks for the excellent content you put out consistently!
Yep I did a video about that as well! 😁
Thank you so much!
@@SupergeekMike I THOUGHT so. I passed that piece of advice on to a friend who was recently a first time DM. He appreciated the advice.
What kind of gear do you use to record these?
I record videos on my phone, and record the audio using a Blue Yeti mic, recording onto my laptop.
I severely doubt that Rey Palpatine was a retcon. It's far more likely that Rian Jonson simply didn't like the idea and went forward with his own script plan, and then Rise of Skywalker had to try and fix the continuity mistakes he created by doing that.
From all accounts regarding how Rian approached Last Jedi, and regarding how Rise of Skywalker happened, it seems like the reverse happened. Palpatine wasn’t part of the final film until, by all accounts, VERY late in the process. Rian had to make specific requests regarding the end of Force Awakens because otherwise the film wouldn’t make sense and he wouldn’t have anything to work with for his sequel. (“If Luke is levitating rocks when Rey finds him, then he’s attuned to the Force, so why didn’t he come and save Han? Please take away the levitating rocks, JJ.”)
Again, you’re still free to dislike the film, that’s fine, but it seems pretty clear to me that JJ actually wasn’t setting anything up. In fact, I personally believe he wasn’t even TRYING to set up a mystery, but the whole tone of that first sequel film makes mysteries out of everything. And then the internet spent two years obsessing about Rey’s parentage, and then those people were unhappy with the answer to the question they’d made themselves obsessed about when Rian closed the door on it.
And the Rise of Skywalker tried to pacify those fans with lazy, poorly-considered and poorly-executed fan service, which is pretty much the M.O. of that entire movie.
OK, way to keep on theme with the clips, but you could've kept with Sorkin and slipped in Sam Seaborn saying "This is like Dungeons and Dragons camp all over again."
Ahhh I didn’t remember that one! Lol
What movie is that?
a few good men
@@baie_nuuskierig Thx!
It’s so good :)
@@SupergeekMike right?! Love it still.
How are you not at 25k
Aww thank you!
Mike I did not understand a single one of those cultural references XD
The clips are from “A Few Good Men,” a movie you should watch right now if you haven’t, it’s so good 😁
The Lady Gaga, Return of the Jedi and Batman Begins references were 50% jokes
this was so freakin funny
Thank you!
;) Dice!
Congratulations on the success of the channel my friend. Let me help the TH-cam algorithm by commenting to tell you that The Last Jedi was, in fact, a terrible movie.
I appreciate it! Obviously I don’t personally agree but I DO think it’s uneven and messy, so I certainly won’t go as far as others who would say it’s the best movie ever. (Also, it’s been 5 years, so even if I did want to argue it over, I doubt I’m gonna change anyone’s minds at this point lol)